The Creatures That We Are-Chapter 1187: Once

The moment the snapshots were taken, the four awakeners felt as if they were ants mistakenly climbing onto a photocopier and getting scanned. They felt lightheaded for a moment, but their fate remained unclaimed and free.

As expected, Greed was still in the prying stage, unable to immediately occupy their fates.

“Hurry, Absolute Barrier!” Nine Frost shouted.

Chen Ying stilled. “I...can’t...”

“Chen Ying?”

Nine Frost quickly turned around to find Chen Ying silently staring ahead, but there was nothing there... No, that wasn’t the case. It was just that Chen Ying was seeing something only she could see.

Realization dawning, Nine Frost shuddered and sensed a gaze piercing his chest like a thread. He slowly turned around, gasping.

Not far from him stood a tall, slim man with short hair. A golden thread ran from the man’s chest to Nine Frost’s.

The man was him.

At that moment, Nine Frost figured out what had happened.

The Nine Frost standing before him was his Fate Slide, a replica from a moment in his past.

He realized that he had to eliminate the replica, or he would be replaced instead.

That was why Chen Ying hadn’t triggered an Absolute Barrier. Their replicas wouldn’t disappear even if they found sanctuary in the barrier. Instead, they would grow stronger over time and eventually take their places.

“These are us in the past. They are weaker than we are. Take them out quickly!” Nine Frost made the call decisively as he rushed toward his Fate Slide.

The others followed suit without hesitation.

Nine Frost’s enemy was himself from a year ago. He wore a set of dark grey tactical clothes with the badge for the fourth team on his arm. A gold qilin brooch decorated his chest. Under his short black hair, his face was all sculpted lines and sharp angles. He lifted his chin slightly, his eyes glowing with haughty light.

He wondered why he was here and who the man sharing his face but not his temperament was. They were identical yet so very different in the way they held themselves.

He didn’t know that he wasn’t real, that he was only a replica.

He believed himself to be Nine Frost and accepted readily that he was going to fight—the man was already rushing toward him with the intention to kill.

He must not die. He was a Protector of the Qilin Guild and the leader of the fourth operations team. He had his responsibilities and teammates to take care of. He must survive.

Nine Frost—the real one—wavered for a moment as he charged toward his replica. He could read his replica’s thoughts from his eyes. It reminded him of his past, of the man who was overly confident despite being weak, of his blind faith in himself stemming from ignorance.

Ha, what a blockhead he had been, a happy blockhead.

“Agh!”

The replica rushed at him without hesitation and punched at his heart.

Nine Frost easily blocked it, exchanging blows with himself.

The replica soon realized that the enemy could match his power and was familiar with his moves. He would only be wasting his stamina if he kept on like this. He tried to come up with a plan—

[You’re not a good captain.]

A voice spoke in the replica’s head.

Who?

The replica’s moment of distraction allowed his opponent to grab his arm. He started, countering the grapple with a punch to keep the enemy at bay.

[The fourth team was wiped out.]

The replica calmed down, realizing that the enemy was trying to distract him with the voice. He would not allow for that...

The enemy suddenly charged at him at double the speed, catching him off guard. He hurriedly threw his punch to meet the enemy’s fist.

Bam! When their fists collided, the replica felt a great pain shooting through his fingers. His bones were fractured.

[You were determined to have revenge.]

The replica met the next punch with his own, but his force was amplified four times, while his enemy’s was amplified seven times.

“Agh!”

The replica’s five fingers broke. His arm was fractured in many parts as well. The pain was almost unbearable.

[The path to revenge is arduous.]

The replica staggered back and growled, “Stop talking! Get out of my head!”

The enemy advanced with even greater speed. The replica now knew how great the gap between them was, but he didn’t back down. He met the third punch by swinging his almost crippled arm and fist.

[To kill one’s enemy...] frёeωebɳovel.com

The moment their fists made contact, the replica realized that the enemy’s fist had become supple and slippery, sliding past his fist like a jelly. It was Mutate. The Talent had temporarily transformed the enemy’s body part.

Following the near miss, the enemy threw his left fist at the replica’s heart. The replica threw up blood, coating half of the man’s face.

[...one must first kill...]

Another punch was thrown without hesitation.

The replica’s chest sank in, and his back arched.

[...their past self.]

The third punch hit.

Times 49!

A hole was put into the replica’s chest. He flew off his feet before hitting the ground, bleeding from all his orifices. His almost-burst eyeballs stared into the air with disbelief and frustration before dimming to lifelessness.

The battle was over.

Nine Frost gazed down at the dead replica coolly. If he had died to Yellow Butterfly’s bullet, perhaps this would be the expression on his face.

The replica vanished, just like the possible future that never happened.